DAVE'S DIARY - 2 JANUARY 2007 - JERRY LEE LEWIS CD REVIEW
JERRY LEE LEWIS - LAST MAN STANDING
Last Man
Standing takes its title from an historic moment 50 years ago - in
December 1956 - when Lewis cut some impromptu recordings in Memphis with
Sun label-mates Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins.
The Killer was the rowdiest of the bunch, and yet he's the only member
left from the fabled Million Dollar Quartet.
So it's fitting that he has been honoured as the star of this CD accompanied
by an animated video clip of Springsteen song Pink Cadillac debuted
on Nu Country TV.
LAST
MAN STANDING CD REVIEW - DECEMBER - 2006
JERRY LEE LEWIS
LAST MAN STANDING (ARTISTS FIRST-SHOCK
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When
Jerry Lee Lewis played Festival Hall in West Melbourne in the early
seventies it was a sequel of sorts to Bob Dylan's debut there in 1968. The bodgies and widgies booed The Killer with same venom as folkies greeted Dylan as he played an electric set in the second half of his gig. So when Jerry Lee rounded up major country stars to flesh out this dynamic duets disc local rock critics vented their suburban spleens. At 71 the Mississippi born legend and handlers were smart enough to cover all genres that Lewis straddled for his entire career. |
Jerry Lee
sets the pace with Jimmy Page on Led Zeppelin's Rock And Roll and
clocks off 20 songs later with Kristofferson on his classic The Pilgrim.
But it's the meat on the bone that makes it such a delicious dish - Springsteen's
Pink Cadillac, John Fogerty's Travelin' Band, Robbie Robertson's
Twilight and even the Ringo Starr duet on Chuck Berry's Sweet
Little Sixteen.
Chieftain Paddy Maloney's pipes and whistles add authenticity to Don Henley's
role on Van Morrison's What Makes This Irish Beat.
Rocker Ronnie Wood fares much better with his pedal steel adornment to
Stones boss Mick Jagger's cameo on Evening Gown than vocally challenged
Keith Richards on Mack Vickery classic That Kind Of Fool.
Kid Rock and Rod Stewart fail muster on Honky Tonk Woman and Glenn
Sutton epic What Made Milwaukee Famous but Lewis keeps his end
up.
The rationale for the soppy Killer original Ol' Glory is not clear
- maybe publishing royalties for teaming with rebel country star Toby
Keith.
More fitting are duets with fellow surviving outlaws Merle Haggard, Willie
Nelson and George Jones on Just A Bummin' Around, Shel Silverstein's
apt Couple More Years and Cindy Walker's swing tune Don't Be
Ashamed of Your Age.
The Killer develops a Billy Joe Shaver vocal persona there but there's
no mistaking his voice when he teams with Buddy Guy on Hadacol Boogie
and Delaney Bramlett on Leon Payne's oft recorded country classic Lost
Highway.
This is a fun filled frolic and succeeds on that level. A genuine gem.